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For love or money, more plan to keep working after retirementPosted by Randy on: 2005-10-01 18:41:35 in category:
Retirement Headlines [ Print | Permalink / 0 Comment(s) ] For love or money, more plan to keep working after retirement Longer lifespans, economic uncertainty change traditional model of work-save-retire. By Hank Ezell / Cox News Service Not long ago, a restful retirement was the end of the rainbow for working Americans. No more. Three out of five baby boomers plan to keep on working after they say goodbye to their careers. Add in those who plan to start a business and you're left with less than a third who will devote themselves to volunteering, visiting the kids or lolling around. "The old model -- work-save-retire -- is obsolete," says Carl E. Van Horn, a Rutgers professor who recently published a major study on retirement expectations. "The new model is work-save-pause, then work, volunteer or whatever." The old expectations have been displaced by economic uncertainties, longer lifespans and an all-American go-get-'em attitude, Van Horn says. Van Horn, the 55-year-old director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, spoke about boomers and their retirement expectations. Q: Over time, do you find that a growing number of baby boomers say they're going to have to work for money? A: That's right. We took a snapshot of this in the year 2000, at the peak of the economic boom. Obviously at that point people probably had somewhat inflated expectations about the likelihood that their 401(k)s would sustain them in retirement. Now, it's not that the economy is in bad shape, but it's certainly more to a normal pattern. And the stock market is obviously back down to gradual growth. So a lot of people's 401(k)s are much smaller. The other thing that's happened, more and more, is that younger folks are not likely to have guaranteed, defined benefit pensions, or they are beginning to worry that those so-called guarantees are not really guaranteed. They see companies reneging on their obligations and declaring bankruptcy. And the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. is in deficit. So when they are projecting ahead, people are saying, "I'm going to have to work to maintain the lifestyle I'm accustomed to." Q: Do you think people have more realistic attitudes toward paying for retirement? A: I don't know whether I'd call it realistic. Sober may be a better word. I want to add, however, that there is an upside to this story. That is that a substantial number of people want to work part time because they think it's healthy and interesting and fun and a way to remain engaged. That's a boomer attitude, but it's younger people, too. I think it's because people feel better about their likelihood of living longer, healthier lives than their parents' generation did. The evidence supports that. People don't want to stop working and play golf and visit their families. They want to mix those things with doing other things. That's why we say the old model, work-save-retire, is obsolete. The new model is work-save-pause-work, volunteer or whatever. Q: You see this as reflecting a positive, growth attitude? A: Yes. One of the things we know about Americans is that they like to work. Maybe not full time, maybe not in the job they had for many years. But they do want to remain engaged. So we have a lot of people who say they want to start their own businesses when they retire. And we have a high percentage who are going to volunteer. I think previous generations were more inclined to think about the old biblical three score and 10. You know, "I'll live to age 70. I'm going to retire at age 60 or 62, so I can enjoy some years with my children and grandchildren." Q: It's not really a surprise that 28 percent think they're going to need the income? A: That number has increased over five years ago. Remember that a third of workers say they save nothing. A lot of those folks, realistically, are saying, "I don't think I can live on Social Security. Therefore I'm going to have to do something else." Q: In the study, 30 percent of those with high school degrees or less say they'll have to work for money, much higher than among better-educated people. Is this a class thing? A: It is, of course. As you know, there are millions of Americans who are hourly workers. They may not have benefits, they certainly don't have pensions and 401(k)s. Homepage Other open community sites http://www.business-business.biz Please support are sponsors. To design you custom retirement plan. http://www.retirement-plan.us For planning a IRA rollovers. http://www.ira-rollover.us Professional asset allocation and the wonders it can do. http://www.asset-allocation.us Professional money management: National ranked performance. http://www.roth-ira.us Managers selected to fit your needs. http://www.money-managers.us |
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